William Jones (1746-1794) was born in London. He came to India in 1783 and was appointed as associate judge at Calcutta’s Supreme Court. He had deep interest in oriental culture and philosophy. He collected and studied rare manuscripts in Sanskrit and also translated the laws of Manu, Shakuntala and the Hitopadesa. Known as ‘Oriental’ Jones and the ‘father of Indology’, Jones was the founder-president of the Asiatic Society, an association to promote interest and research in Asian culture. His Asiatick Researches earned him worldwide fame.
William Jones also distinguished himself as a linguist. He mastered 28 languages—both European and oriental. In 1771, he wrote a book on Persian grammar. He also translated from Persian to French the life-history of Nadir Shah. In addition, he introduced the principles of transliteration in the study of oriental languages.
He passed away in 1794.